Fall into the Holidays

This year Fall arrived on September 22nd. When I think of fall – I think of crisp air, earlier sunsets, new colors, and… The Holidays!

And what do Holidays bring? A few of my favorite things – gatherings, crafting, friends, family, and food.

October: Halloween

Weekend One: We invited Nick’s parents and Rachel over for food, drinks, and pumpkin carving! This wasn’t the easiest project, especially due to the fact we remembered to purchase the pumpkins and forgot to buy all of the carving tools so we fell back on using kitchen knives (i.e. butcher and steak). Alex chose Darth Vader – obviously he is the patient one of the bunch. Nick carved Frankenstein and Rachel helped me carve the basic smiley face.

Zero LOVED pumpkin carving

Weekend Two: Our friends Derek and Elizabeth Brackin invited us to The Haunted Hotel in Gaslamp for a good scare. Mind you, I get scared in the movie scene when the cat jumps out of no where during a quite evening walk. I also hate chainsaws. I thinks it’s ABSURD that someone would chase you with a chainsaw for fun. I’m aware haunted houses have insurance and usually don’t hire murderers, but what if that thing projects out of your hands when you trip over your own feet because of the crazy flashing lights? That means I get my hand chopped off. Anyway, I got the courage to go (of course, I’m slightly exaggerating. I’m not that much of a wuss) and it was a lot of fun.

Halloween: We didn’t prep costumes this year, so on my way to work I stopped at CVS, purchased cat ears and used my eye liner to draw a few whiskers.

Even though we weren’t prepared with costumes, we did have candy for Trick or Treaters and of course we had roughly 3 visitors. We had to eat all the candy ourselves – I guess trick or treating gets easier as you get older.

November: Thanksgiving

Weekend One: Nick’s cousins, Duane and Kellen, flew into town from San Francisco. I loved getting to witness the boys catching up. It made for good conversation and a great time.

With that being said. I’d like to take a moment to say how thankful I am to soon be apart of this family. Each and every person truly cares about family, about teaching each other, and about being there for one another.

(Later) This month we lost a wonderful woman, Pat Woodward, who I’ve only known since being with Nick, but I’ve witnessed the huge impact she’s had on everyone’s lives. I lack words in situations like this, but I just wanted to give thanks. I’m glad I was given the chance to know her and to be there with the family when it was time to say goodbye. I’ll forever remember how she complimented my eyelashes every time I saw her and brought a smile to everyone’s face. – Nick and his grandma.

Weekend Two: Nick and I drove up to my some-what home town, Lancaster, for the 1st Field of Drafts event at Jet Hawks stadium. I was pleasantly surprised by the turn out. It was a beautiful day to enjoy craft beer and family time.

Thanksgiving: 2013 – The first thanksgiving with The Smith’s and The Shumate’s! My parents and brother drove down to San Diego to spend Thanksgiving at Chona and John’s. Nick and my brother patiently waited while I whipped up my first Butternut Squash Bacon Souffle (it turned out quite well!). My parents brought two paleo deserts, a brussel sprout dish, and my moms fabulous sausage stuffing. Justin (my brother) and I grew up in California with the rest of our family on the East Coast so every Thanksgiving has been the 4 of us. This was the first time Justin participated in a Thanksgiving with 13 people (Nick’s immediate family, along with an Aunt, Uncle, and cousins) and he enjoyed it. The day and the dinner was a success 🙂

I’m so happy my parents could be there – so very thankful for them.

And how did we end the month of November? Decorating for December of course!

 

Happy Holidays my friends.

 

 

 

 

My Journey to Myself thru Yoga

I’ve practiced yoga in some form on and off since my junior year in college and I plan to keep it in my life long routine. Yoga isn’t just about being the next biggest hippie. It’s not about showing you the pretzel formed flying bird you can create with your body. It’s not about who has the coolest colored tights. There is much more to it than that. The strength, control, and concentration that it takes to be quite and one with yourself is unbelievable. The ability to close off the outside world, come to your mat, and practice spending time with yourself means so much more than you can ever believe.

My yoga teacher once talked about an article she read on the study of karma. The study shows how much soap is left in a container when a sign is put up in a hospital bathroom that says “Please was your hands it’ll help your health” versus ” “Please was your hands it’ll help the health of your patients.” A higher percentage of soap was used when the sign was up regarding patients. This is because we often have a much easier time taking care of others before we take care of ourselves, but we need to tend to ourselves. To be kind to yourself, to do things that you love and will better yourself, these things are not selfish, they are actually selfless.

Why do I practice yoga? It provides me strength and flexibility – physical health. It provides me with tools to channel my stress, to look into myself, to look at the world in a different manner – mental health. It is fun. I get to step outside of my every day life for an 60 minutes, tilt my head back, and laugh.

Yoga: Yoga is the Journey, of the Self, through the Self, to the Self.

Devine Spirit: I honor the place in you in which the universe dwells. I honor the place in you which is of love, of truth, of light, and of peace. When you are in that place in You and I am in that place in me, we are one.

Buddha: When you realize how perfect everything is – you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.

Twenty Five – times 25

My wonderful  family joined me for the celebration of my day of birth – My 9,161st day of birth to be exact. That’s right, my Big 25.

The older I get, the more I realize how time truly flies by. For instance, my 25th birthday was on September 13th and it took me a month to write about it. I tend to be quite hard on myself for not crossing every item off my To Do list (such as not writing this blog and not starting my DIY like I promised in the last post), but the older you get, the faster time flies, the longer your list gets, resulting in the repeated occurrence of leaving at least one thing off your list.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m checking off many other things: Joined my first Fantasy Football League (which takes up most of Sunday), joined a yoga studio and finally got a few incline stands, went paddle boarding, added Account Manager and Payroll Specialist to my resume without even asking for it, went to three happy hours, attended 2 Padre’s games, started wedding planning, just to name a few,  so it’s not like I’m necessarily in a bad spot; however, there are quite a few things missing a check mark (DIY, deciding on next step for education and/or career, visiting lancaster, buying new tires, going to the dentist!) I’m just going to have to learn to be an adult and realize – time flies, so hold on and enjoy it.

Now I should get back to telling you about how I enjoyed gorgeous blue skies in San Diego with my lovely family during my birthday weekend.

Friday, September 13th (25th Birthday)

My brother Justin and parents drove down to San Diego, where we barbecued in the backyard, opened presents (yes, this is an important birthday, we literally took pictures of opening presents like when you’re 5 and it’s Christmas morning).

Hi I’m Nick and I BBQ like a king… Left to Right: Alex/Zoe, Dad, Mom, Brother, and the Birthday girl.

I read my cards allowed and kissed my lottery ticket for good luck. Cheese!

Why didn’t anyone buy me copper mugs for my birthday? Moscow Mule – favorite cocktail

This is why I’m not a model and I really need a Stylist. Thank you mom and dad for the Betsy Johnson ankle boots and colorful scarf.

I decided to not show anymore modeling pics.

Saturday, September 14th.

Rachel woke up and hit the road early to meet us for brunch. We went to Wonderland in Ocean Beach, because I love the view, omelets, and mimosas.

The soon-to-be Brothers.

Rachel Pace. She’s beautiful, but refuses to smile. Good thing she is beautiful even when she doesn’t smile. 

After brunch, we went to the Coronado Art Walk.

This is my big brother Justin. He’s going for his MFA at Long Beach and will one day sell paintings for $XXX,XXX,XXX.00

This is my dad Lonnie. He belongs on a beach – cool, calm, and collected – and looks great in hats. 

And then there is Us with the SD skyline.

After a long day in the sun, we all went back to take naps and change into our evening attire. Nick’s parents and brother John met us at our house in Normal Heights. Then we drove over to Little Italy together.

Dinner was served and served well at – Hexagone

Thank you John and Chona

Brothers

Mom and Dad

And of course – Nick.

Pictures. They allow you to tell the most amazing stories – over and over again.

Cheers.

A Day With the Dogs

I know it’s been a while since I’ve written. I was on a roll. That roll hit a bump – which consisted of my boss going on vacation to Spain and Portugal and me – as Assistant Branch Manager- having to  hold down the fort. During that time, my weeks were too busy to get creative with choosing my new hobbies (or I’m letting that be an excuse). Also since my last post, I did take a weekend drive to visit my dear friends Kerri and Bailey in Camarillo, followed by a weekend spur-of-the-moment visit from Rachel, followed by a weekend with a girls night of mexican food and dancing. So even though I was busy with work I still found time to spend the other hours with friends (something I’ve been trying to get better at – it seems to be improving).

With that being said, similar to my hobbies, my dogs were left behind. Don’t get me wrong. They have a big backyard to play in and all the toys they could need. However, we usually try to take them to dog beach, the park, or on runs and none of that happened. I decided that I wouldn’t let this weekend pass me by without blogging or having fun with the pups.

Yesterday Nick and I took the dogs to Sporting Goods, bought them three new tennis balls, and headed to the park with the chuck-it.

Meet: Happy and Hot Zero and Zoe.

 

 

They loved every minute of fetch. Don’t be fooled by those cute little faces – they’re a hand full – or two.

Okay. Next week is Palm Springs, but the week after… I’m starting some DIY.

Food Prep Partners, Beach Buddies, Safari Animal Seekers

After coming to the realization that having weekends off is AMAZING – the first goal I set was to make every weekend count (and of course, something worth putting here, on the memory books). What I mean by that is taking on activities that I don’t normally do – go on adventures in new places, try different food; however, it also includes seeing friends and family more and ensuring I get things done to start Monday off right.

Here is how the first two weeks went.

Saturday, June 29th: Moonlight Beach in Encinitas with Nick and his parents, followed by a fabulous home cooked meal at their house.

 

Sunday, June 30th: I would consider Nick and I in the “active” category of health & fitness “How often do you exercise?”. I would also consider Nick and I in the “sensitive stomach” category for What food to eat and not eat? And why do I have to take enzymes before certain meals?. With that being said, we lived the Paleo lifestyle for quite some time, but fell off the band wagon for a while. We’ve decided to give it a go again (100% Paleo, 80% of the time) and this time make it easier for ourselves by prepping food early in the week so it’s easily accessible.

These are my Paleo Banana Apple and Cranberry muffins:

Found on the Primal Diner website – These are Nick’s Egg & Bacon muffins and Brazillian Curry Chicken dish:

And for snacks – we have trail mix (nuts, cranberries, coconut) and bacon (Don’t mind Nick, he needed to borrow my apron to protect from the grease – he may hate me for posting this – oops)

Thursday, July 4th (Happy America Day!): The Original Dog Beach in Ocean Beach, followed by more animal watching at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

Happiest Doggies on the planet! It was such a great feeling to watch Nick play chuck-it with two of his favorite things – his dogs and the ocean.

I took roughly 50 pictures at the Safari Park, but I didn’t want to bombard you so I just gave you a taste – feel free to ask if you’d like to see more 🙂 From witnessing animals washing themselves, feeding, and a great view, I would definitely recommend the Safari Park to anyone. Although the Giraffe feeding Safari is a bit pricey ($140 pp) it would be AWESOME – I just saw the giraffes from afar and a truck of people feeding them from afar. Not quite the same, but for a Living Social deal of ($22 pp) I was satisfied.

 

Oh and they have ELEPHANTS!

Every day off can’t be filled with something to remember and quote on quote something that counts. We need our rest consisting of lounging and absolutely nothing too, but I hope you get the point – Experience life as effectively and efficiently as possible and Enjoy.

Why Having Weekends Off Are a Necessity.

I’m sorry it has been a while since I’ve posted. I also apologize ahead of time for this post being a “pictures speak louder than words” post… or should I say “pictures speak faster than words”?

I hope all of you have been enjoying this month’s moments of family, friends, and fun. Cheers.

“San Luis Obispo College Lovies Reunion and Beer Fest” – March 24th

Friday night we had a night out on the town – Frog & Peach style

Saturday we enjoyed the SLO Beer Fest – ALL DAY LONG

And Sunday we basked in the sun – And then I had to say goodbye to the beautiful town…

“Soon-to-be Shumate & Shumate’s McClintock Street House Warming” – June 1st

Family.

Friends.

And Beer Pong.

“Temecula Wine Tasting on Caitlyn’s Party Bus” – June 8th

More than a dozen friends – old and new – took a party bus from OB to Temecula for a day of laughter, dancing, and wine tasting.

“New Position. New Division. New Start” – June 10th

The company I have worked for since December, The Eastridge Group of Staffing Companies, consists of 23 different divisions where we place more than 25,000 candidates per year. Friday was my last day as an Associate Technical Recruiter in the Info Tech division. Monday, I began a new role as Assistant Manager of Light Industrial staffing. Wish me luck!

“Smith’s are in SD – Family. Fair. Father’s Day.” – June 15th

It started with the fair.

Then we enjoyed Cafe 21 on Adams Ave.

And we ended with a fabulous Father’s Day, all for a fabulous father – My DAD, Lonnie Smith (breakfast at Antique Row Cafe).

The Windy City

May 16th – May 20th

Chicago – the third most populous city in the United States, home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, tourist-loving location for the Navy Pier and Architecture Boat tours – is a city that lays claim to a number of regional cuisine specialities and (in my experience) delightful people, two of my favorite things.

Main purpose of our trip: Len and Melissa Berg, special friends of ours, have a new addition to the family – darling baby Kendall

However, we also spent some time being tourists and enjoying Chicago. Thursday, Len picked us up from the airport and we headed straight to the hotel to check in and hit Michigan Avenue. The three of us enjoyed lunch (Lobster roll was phenomenal) and a drink (Great beer list) at Howells and Hood. Len had to take off, but recommended we check out The Purple Pig, so we did (Great wine list). We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping until it was time to get ready for dinner.

We stayed at The James Hotel (great location, modern style, but amenities could’ve been better – much better), which is where our restaurant of choice happened to also be – David Burke’s Primehouse. We chose it based on the reviews, 40 day aged steak, and deliciously-described sides. If you know Nick and myself you now we love to dress up, so we did. When we were seated the waiter brought us both a glass of champagne to celebrate our engagement (very nice of them – you know they read our OpenTable notes). We ordered oysters and wine – perfect. Then two different steaks, and sides – long story short, the kitchen had some timing issues and the food experience turned out to not be very pleasing. Hey, at least we looked good…

 

The next morning we took a cab to Eleventh City Diner for breakfast. Nick had the Lox Box and I had the Basil Pesto Omelette, both great. We then walked to Millennium Park and enjoyed the beautiful scenery – although, it was quite windy. I’m pretty sure everyone knew I was a tourist and didn’t pay attention to the nick name “The Windy City” because that morning I was the only person out in a dress – Hey, I rely on my IPhone weather app and it said it would be warm! Photo shoot… ready Go!

 

After our walk, Len, Melissa, and Kendall picked us up to start our visit – the jump off point – United Center where we got a private tour. We got to check out the suites, locker rooms, Zambonies, and even walk out on the ice. It was unreal (thanks again Len!). Another Photo Shoot…

 

The rest of the trip we stayed at their gorgeous house in Bolingbrook. Friday night we enjoyed Deep Dish Pizza and each other’s company. Nick and Len have been friends since Junior High – they sat on the back porch talking about whatever men talk about over cigars and vodka. Melissa shared her favorite champagne with me and we got to enjoy the warm living room and talk about whatever girls talk about over champagne 🙂 Saturday we had a barbeque with two of their friends from town… but of course Kendall was still the highlight of the party.

 

Sunday we spent another day in the city – started at the Navy Pier and had Chicago Chili Dogs and ended at the Trump Tour which had a spectacular view of the Magnificent Mile River.

When Monday came we all were ready for an afternoon of relaxation, which is just what we did. And our last meal – Chicago Italian Beef sandwich with hot peppers – Yum-O.

I have to admit – I’d live in Chicago in a heart beat – If the CarbLoad-Delicious-Cuisine and Cold weather didn’t scare me so much. 

Len and Melissa – Thank you for opening up your home to us. And letting us love on your baby.

 

 

Can’t wait to see you in San Diego in June.

For those of you who have never been to Chicago. Go. You won’t regret it. I know we didn’t.

The Weather was Beautiful and the Company Even Better

Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting my parents in Lancaster. The weather was beautiful and the company even better – my aunt, uncle, and cousin from Massachusetts came to visit as well. Matt’s been a Cali resident for roughly 6 years (but he still has the awesome accent so he gets the Mass family label) and it’s been about that long since I have seen all of them so it made our “Weekend before Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day celebration” even better.

My mom made a DELICIOUS Meat Sauce in the slow cooker for dinner (sorry, Vegetarian friends this one isn’t for you). I’ve copied the recipe in a link below if you’d like to try it out – she made pasta to put the meat sauce over, but for those of you who are Paleo you can eat it more like a soup – I gave in and had the pasta.

Italian Sunday Gravy

I decided against taking pictures of the food and instead took pictures of the much prettier flowers. Kudos to Dad.

Anyway, it was an absolutely lovely day full of interesting conversation. I’m truly thankful for my family and any opportunity that I get to see them.

Happy “Weekend before Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day” Mom and Aunt Karen!

And Happy Mother’s Day (on Mother’s Day) – to my Mother-in-law to be. What a beautiful day for Sunday brunch, walk in La Jolla cove, and 3D Iron Man 3 (in Luxury seating).

 

Cheers to beautiful weather. Cheers to Moms. Cheers to good company.

Getting Engaged to My Best Friend (with my best friends)

The most important, fascinating, and beautiful moment of my life thus far is definitely the first event I would like to put down in the memory books.

Talking about 9 easy steps to increase your creativity… maybe we should take a lesson from my fiance. He showed me a new side to his creative planning with – our engagement.

April 13th, 2013

Leading up to the Moment:

My parents were in San Diego to watch the dogs while we were away. Nick took advantage of this fact, by giving his dad the task to have my parents over Saturday afternoon so they could all celebrate together. Nick gave Alex the responsibility of hiding the ring in his camping bag and then tasked him to carry it in his pocket to get into the festival (Alex said this was the most nerve wrecking part ever!). Apparently they handed off the ring at the merchandise tent while I was off trying to find my Coachella 2013 tank top – figures.

Then everyone headed to the ferris wheel, except Colin, Sarah and Eli who went to the beer garden instead. In line, I asked Nick if he was okay because he was stiff as a board and quiet. He made me believe he was just hot and didn’t feel very good (right – more like nerves). Des and Joey rode in one car, Brandon, Tiffany and Karl in another and Bailey, Alex, Nick and I were in our own. Right when Nick and I sat down, Karl shouted our names then snapped a photo – the last photo before the moment.

The Moment:

The view from the top of the ferris wheel was beautiful. You could see the entire park, camping, tons of land and palm trees. Nick pointed out what looked to be a lake and as Bailey and I sat in awe taking in the scenery, he took hold of my hand and said, “Kayla Noelle Smith.” I turned to look at him and there was the GORGEOUS ring. I couldn’t help myself I immediately began to shake and said, “Are you kidding me?” He looked me in the eyes, with the sweetest most caring eyes I’ve ever seen and said “I want to spend the rest of my life with you” I said, “Me too.” His voice trembled as he asked, “will you marry me?” and I replied, “yes, of course.” We kissed, hugged and both cried as he placed the ring on my finger. Perfectly enough, Alex was there to take pictures of this amazing moment.

Moments after:

When everyone got off of the ride they ran over to congratulate the two of us, every one was so happy. I could feel each and every one of my friend’s smiles through their hugs. In the beer garden, all twelve of us stood in a circle while Nick thanked everyone for being there and for being apart of our engagement. Then Nick handed me his phone, which was already calling his parents. I broke away from the group so I could hear and noticed our parents were together on speakerphone. They hollered with joy and popped champagne. Being at Coachella, you can’t call every single person you want so of course the next and last person on my list was my brother. Just as I knew he would be, he was so happy for us and almost couldn’t believe it.

For the icing on the cake (since we didn’t have cake) we all took celebratory tequila shots and went to experience the rest of Coachella with a completely different level of love.

– Nick Shumate – I love you. I’m so happy that I’ve found my perfect partner, my best friend. Being engaged to you – is AWESOME and so is the ring 😉 

Engaged on a Ferris Wheel and Bought a Record Player

Hello Readers!

A couple of months ago, while sitting at my parents house on the porch with the two of them and Nick, I flipped through an album that my dad brought home from Ohio after attending my grandpa’s funeral. I found a hand full of letters that my grandma kept from my dad while he was in the service. I proceeded to read two of them aloud. My young father talked about the first car he purchased, missing his parents while in the service, people he met and even… my mom. One letter was specifically about how they recently started dating and how he knew she “really liked him”. The feeling that came over me when reading that was overwhelming. I felt joy, yet sadness. Sadness, because I realized when I’m older there won’t be similar letters for my children to read. I don’t write my parents letters – I call them on the phone. I don’t write my friends letters – I type quick messages on a social media site or send a text. I used to write in a journal, in hopes of looking back on those memories later, but I stopped years ago.

This made me think about blogging again. That way I at least have a blog to look back on ideas of the time and life events. In the days and weeks to come I also felt the need of finding a new hobby or way to express myself, but that need was pushed to the side by busy days at work and whatever other excuse I gave myself.

Yesterday, I read an article on LinkedIn, “How to Increase Your Creativity in 9 Easy Steps” by Dr. Kavetha, and it gave me that last bit of inspiration I needed to start writing again – the key word Easy – having so many other things going on in our lives, easy can be nice. In the article, two quotes stood out to me that made me start this blog:

#4 Be a Child: “Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.” –Pablo Picasso

#9 Rebel: “Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.” ~Robert Frost

Extract your meaning from them and feel free to join me in following the 9 steps to creativity. Starting with the two mentioned above.

This blog will be a little something about this thing called life – in the form of hobbies, travel, ideas and events. Enjoy.